A 29-year-old inmate in the Allegheny County Jail has been charged with starting a fire in his cell that forced a partial evacuation Wednesday and sent two corrections officers to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
Andrew Powell is charged with risking catastrophe, reckless endangerment, institutional vandalism and felony criminal mischief, according to Allegheny County officials.
Two people with knowledge of the situation said Powell was heating a mixture of baby oil and ink in order to create a jailhouse tattoo around 3:25 p.m. Wednesday when the mixture spilled and ignited in his cell.
The fire, located in Pod 6D, was extinguished by a corrections officer before firefighters arrived, Warden Orlando Harper said.
About 80 inmates in the pod were evacuated to the jail’s gym because of smoke, he said, and the entire jail was put on lockdown until Thursday morning. A corrections officer and a sergeant were taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
No inmates were injured during the incident.
Shelly Bradbury: 412-263-1999, sbradbury@post-gazette.com or follow @ShellyBradbury on Twitter.
First Published: March 8, 2018, 10:08 p.m.
